Reynolds has plenty of camping experience

Eagles rookie safety Ed Reynolds speaks to the media after rookie camp Friday at the NovaCare Complex. Reynolds volunteered at a few Giants camps before starting his college career at Stanford. (AP Photo/Michael Perez)

Reynolds attended three New York Giants training camps in a volunteer role before heading off to Stanford, where some of the guys he rubbed shoulders with are about to see him again, only in another uniform.

“Don’t say that too loud,” Reynolds said with a smile. “But yeah, I did. … I used to go up there and work training camp at the University of Albany.”

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Reynolds’ father, Ed, played 10 seasons at linebacker in the NFL, the last with the Giants in 1992.

Reynolds Sr. arranged the Giants gig. Reynolds Jr. said his pop, now 52, worked in security for the NFL for 12 years.

The way the younger Reynolds described his pop, having watched film of his games, it’s fairly obvious junior is a chip off the old block.

“I didn’t think he was all that athletic but he was pretty good,” Reynolds said of his dad, who spent nine seasons with the New England Patriots. “Now inside linebackers, you don’t see a 6-5, 240-pound inside guy hardly anywhere. But that’s how he was. He was hard-nosed. He was an undrafted free agent. He had to go make a team. And he did so and ended up leading the team in tackles a couple years while he was at the Patriots. So I’m just taking that work ethic that he had and trying to carry that in my game as well.”

Reynolds is no Earl Thomas, one of the top safeties in all of football right now. During Reynolds’ sophomore season with the Cardinal, he was the NCAA version of Ed Reed. Playing center field in the Cardinal secondary, the 6-1, 207-pound Reynolds returned three of his seven interceptions for scores. Reynolds’ junior season was less productive as he picked off just one pass.

The Eagles aren’t expecting big numbers right away from Reynolds, who will have a tough time getting playing time if veteran safeties Nate Allen, Malcolm Jenkins and Earl Wolff stay healthy.

Reynolds has his work cut out for him. This rookie camp is the only team activity he can attend until training camp. The NFL rule limits rookies whose college classes haven’t been graduated to just one camp.

Reynolds, who still is taking classes, is allowed to take a playbook home. He can also communicate with coaches through Skype.

“All of our meetings are pretty much podcasted on our iPads,” Reynolds added. “It’s just being able to make sure I stay up with that and also be able to have any questions answered by them. And then physically just making sure I stay in shape and work on my DB stuff and make sure when I come back I’m not too far behind.”

Reynolds certainly won’t be in awe of Nick Foles, LeSean McCoy or Jason Peters when he’s back with the Eagles. During those high school summers he spent considerable time around such stars as Plaxico Burress, Jeremy Shockey, Antonio Pierce, Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Eli Manning, among others.

“I worked with the running backs,” said Reynolds, who rushed for 1,314 yards and nine touchdowns and intercepted three passes as a senior at running back and safety for Woodberry Forest (Va.) High. “It was good. Camp was fun. Just being able to compete with Eli in quarterback drills, I was all over the place. Just being around that environment was a great thing for me.”

Reynolds, by the way, was quick to deflect the Giants connection by bringing up his link to the Eagles. Reynolds and his father, in his job with the NFL, dropped in on the Birds at the NovaCare Complex.

“It’s crazy just being back in this building now trying to earn a spot on this team, and being an Eagle,” Reynolds said.

That wasn’t the first time Reynolds tried to quell his history with the Giants. And it won’t be the last.